Doug Murray traveled for the San Jose Mercury News to Chernobyl, Ukraine to report on the tour around the nuclear fallout site.The site, 80 miles northwest of capital Kiev, experienced one of the worst non-atomic bomb nuclear disasters on April 26, 1986 when one of the reactors (picture left) exploded. The radiation spread all over Europe and created a ghost town when 300,000 people needed to relocate for safety purposes.
"More than 20 years after the atomic genie was released from the bottle, the invisible danger in this modern ghost town remains. [tour guide Dennis] Zaburin tells me not to worry, but I can see the readout on his dosimeter [radiation monitor]. It says 1,800. Only a few hours earlier he told me that 50 is normal. What am I doing here?"Read the full story: The lost city of Chernobyl
Short visits to Chernobyl are relatively safe. There still are dangerous areas in the Zone, but guides keep visitors at safe distances from those locations.
ReplyDeleteI personally visited the Chernobyl area for two days in June 2006 with a friend who is a former resident of Pripyat. We toured the Chernobyl Plant (including the Reactor 4 control room), several of the abandoned villages, and Pripyat. I have posted a photo journal of my trip at:
My Journey to Chernobyl: 20 Years After the Disaster